Senator Brian Pettyjohn (R-Georgetown) wants funding from the recent Bank of America/Citibank settlement to be used for high-speed broadband internet through a public-private partnership with the state, Sussex County and a private provider.
Housing organizations and Attorney General Matt Denn also want to use the funds. This follows a controversial decision by the General Assembly to tap into another mortgage settlement to plug a hole in the current state budget.
The expanded service would allow rural residents of Sussex County the ability to connect to the Internet at reasonable costs. Today, many rural Delawareans are forced to rely on expensive cellular technology, and sometimes go without connectivity altogether, a release stated.
Sussex County has struggled with the issue, with county and state government kicking in funds for projects in the county seat of Georgetown.
An E-commerce business in one Sussex County industrial park near the Maryland line was able to come up with a way to tap into the Maryland system and obtained some local government funding.
In northern New Castle County, higher-end systems of Comcast, Verizon and carriers serving larger businesses have Delaware ranking among the top two states in the nation in broadband speeds.
“Senior members of the Department of Technology and Information including Delaware CIO James Collins, and senior IT management of Sussex County have been engaged with a Maryland company to plan countywide broadband solution that would meet the needs of government, businesses, and residents,” said Pettyjohn in a letter to the state’s Joint Finance Committee. “Representative Ruth Briggs-King and have visited countywide implementation of the solution in the area of Scranton, PA.
“Covering Sussex County in its entirety would cost approximately $3.1 million,” said Pettyjohn. “This amount would enable the triad of entities (government, business, residents) to obtain the quality of service needed to efficiently and economically gain access to needed resources. Equipment and installation cost at fixed locations would be very reasonable and there could be an area for low-income families to receive assistance in the installation and purchase of the required equipment.”
He concluded, “I am not requesting that the state fund the entire $3.1 million that it will cost to implement this solution. Funding half of this would allow all of the stakeholders — the state of Delaware, Sussex County, and private enterprise — to have skin in the game.”
